About

"The reluctant Francophile..."

My husband Jack has always wanted to live in Paris and learn French. I thought it would be good for him to achieve his life time dream. Hence, we moved to Paris in 2008. My first year was difficult. I started "missives" to relieve some stress and chronicle my life so friends back in the US could read what I am experiencing. I currently write about my food and travel experiences, which is my passion.

It is definitely a challenge to live here, but each year it gets easier, and quite enjoyable, in large part because I value friendships over locale. I have a love/hate relationship with Paris as do most Parisians, mais La vie est belle (but life is good)!

As some of you may know, last year, with our good friend Bonnie, we started an Ethnic Dinner Club. With the exception of Jack and myself, most of the members are French willing to explore the vast numbers of ethnic neighborhoods and restaurants throughout Paris. We each take turns hosting (organizing) a dinner. In some cases, because of our group size we sometimes get discounts on our dinner and/or get special pre-fix menu for our "group." Some have been hits and some have been misses. All-in-all, we always have a great time exploring.

We went to Les Délices d'Aphrodite on January 29, a Greek restaurant in the 5eme. This restaurant has 2-seatings: 7 pm and 10 pm, we opted for the earlier seating. There's much debate about "staggering" tables in Paris, which seems to be picking up steam for profit margin, but I'll discuss this new trend on another day.

Jack and I arrived about a half-hour late because our bus was delayed and we simply got lost on arrival. Our group had already started with apéros of kirs and ouzo. The menu was quite extensive. They had cold and warm entrées, various types of salads, and a whole list of typical main dishes to choose from.

For our entrées some folks ordered the squid salad. Our group liked it. It had a nice balance of citrus and oils and you can definitely taste the squid, but not fishy. And, the texture of the squid was perfect, not rubbery.

I had the spanakopitas; interestingly it was the Chef's interpretation. Rather than combining the cheese and spinach, I had one filled with spinach, and the other filled with a feta cheese. The dish was accompanied with nice tart greens. I liked it alot. The Filo dough was nice and flaky and the fillings were great.

Jack had an entrée of marinated red bell peppers, some greens and a dip made with feta cheese, garlic and pine nuts called "ktipiti", which I absolutely adored.

The others in our group had dolmas and a typical Greek salad of greens, tomatoes and feta cheese.

All-in-all, our group loved the entrées for it's freshness, balance and good taste.

For our plat, or main course, the majority in the group got the moussaka . I have to say I liked the presentation. It was original in that the eggplant spiraled in a circle, and cooked individually versus cooked like an eggplant parmigiana. I had an opportunity to taste it and it was delicious!

I had the pastitsio, which is basically a macaroni casserole similar to a "ziti" Italians make except they add cinnamon and mint. It was good, but nothing special.

Bonnie had the Koupès, which was cabbage stuffed with lamb and a cracked wheat side dish with a light yogurt sauce. I thought the dish was quite good, albeit a little bit on the heavy side. It would've of reminded me the polish stuffed cabbage except it was stuffed with lamb and had traditionally Greek spices.

Jack had a simple stewed lamb dish. And, it was just that, simple. It lacked depth and could've used a heavier hand with the spices.

For desserts, the restaurant offered the typical Mediterranean desserts of baklava etc., but I find these honey laden desserts too sweet. Most in our group ordered ice cream. You can order 3-flavors in a bowl. One flavor I've not tried was, "fig". Once I tried it, I found it to be way too sweet. Jack had the halva; it was actually pretty good.

Overall, we liked the restaurant. The entrées were excellent! As for the main dishes, some were hits, and some were just OK. The service was excellent. And, some of the Greek waiters actually wanted to practice their English and spoke pretty well. Because of the 2-seatings (7 and 10) I did feel the service was a bit rushed. Would we go again, absolutely. The prices seem reasonable, but once you start adding the apéros, we averaged almost 50€ per person. So, would we go back, ABSOLUTELY!

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Disclosure

Since I am retired, I am not aspiring to be the next "blogger" extraordinaire. I write solely for my edification and to entertain my friends. I do not accept gifts, cash or free meals from restaurants or businesses that I may review or mention in my blog. Nor do I make a pre-announcement that I am reviewing a restaurant. I also do not accept paid advertisement.

Interview with Michelle Pozon

Interview with Chef Aaron Isip

Brief summary of my food philsophy......

“It’s not how well you can cook, but how well you can execute…”

I'm a big "lover of food" having gone to the California Culinary in SF as a hobby, and when I retired I ran a cooking club which included cooking demos as well as bringing in other "cooks" and local Chefs to share family recipes and/or provide cooking demos. I have helped Chefs develop menus, took part in wine and food pairing events, wrote restaurant reviews, assisted in test kitchens developing recipes, and I've even catered a few weddings.

Although I favor Asian/ethnic cuisine over European cuisine, I love to eat all foods. My philosophy has always been, when you travel visit the country's markets. Markets provide a wealth of information about a culture and it's people. Make no mistakes, I think French cuisine can be very good, but to me it is not the "be-all-end-all."

NOTE: As we all know, restaurants can improve or deteriorate. I will try to update my restaurant reviews, if there are any significant changes.